The Musculoskeletal Training Program represents the continued commitment of the Hospital for Special Surgery to train clinicians and scientists in basic and applied research. The goal is to provide highly motivated trainees with the basic science education and research skills necessary for a successful career in academic orthopaedics and related fields. The program's strength is the expertise of the faculty, who cover a broad base of disciplines within musculoskeletal research and who provide the trainee with basic science education and interesting topics for individual research projects. The training program is an interface between basic research and clinical orthopaedics. The faculty includes surgeons and physicians who treat patients and conduct research. Other faculty members are scientists who contribute directly to patient care through design and fabrication of implants and by patient testing. The result is a diverse program that provides appropriate role models and research opportunities with direct clinical application. The program is designed for one predoctoral trainee and two postdoctoral trainees. Selection into the training program is on the basis of prior academic and research performance, recommendation letters, and an interview. Criteria for selection include high motivation for research-and commitment to an academic career. Training is for two to three years for each trainee. Training is conducted at the Hospital for Special Surgery, adjacent to and a part of Cornell University Medical Center. The Hospital has a separate Research Division with fifty scientists supported by NIH grants, a Multipurpose Arthritis Center grant, a Specialized Center for Lupus research grant, and other non-federal funds. The Division is also a site for a Whitaker Foundation supported training program for minority undergraduate students in biomedical engineering in New York City. The Division is housed in a seven story building with laboratories and office space for research in biomechanics, nuclear medicine, experimental radiology, biochemistry, endocrinology, pathology, immunology, and comparative orthopaedics. Special research facilities include electron microscopy, image analysis, an FDA registered center for design and manufacture of implants, and core facilities in animal care, molecular biology, statistics, and flow cytometry. These and all other clinical and research facilities at the Hospital and its affiliated institutions are available to the training program.